Adsorbent filters have a variety of uses, including uses in electronic equipment and chemical manufacturing and storage. For example, in the computer industry, adsorbent filters are used within the housings or casings of electronic devices to protect the electronic components from contaminants, such as water vapor, acid gas, and volatile organic compounds. For example, disk drives often include adsorbent filters within the disk drive and/or provided over an opening in the disk drive housing to protect the drive components and the disks from contaminants, such as water vapor, hydrocarbons, and/or acid gas. Without such protection, these contaminants can lead to stiction, corrosion, and, in some instances, drive failure.
Typically, the adsorbent filter includes an adsorbent material, such as activated carbon or a desiccant, within the filter. In many conventional filters, the adsorbent material is typically provided as loose granular filter material or as filter material disposed on a polymer carrier. The presence of granular adsorbent material can produce particulate contamination, particularly if a covering around the filter material is cut or torn open. The addition of a polymer carrier reduces the density of the adsorbent material because of the presence of the carrier and/or air pockets in the adsorbent material. In addition, the polymer carrier/adsorbent material is typically punched or otherwise cut to form the desired shape, often loosening particles from the carrier which can then become contaminants. Compression molded adsorbents are described, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/819,851, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,487. However, compression molded adsorbents may, at least in some instances, provide obstruction to fluid flow and thereby substantially increase the pressure drop over a filter. Thus, there is a need for new materials and designs of adsorbent filters to increase filter efficiency and/or to prevent or reduce contamination by the adsorbent material itself.